Scintillation camera quality control, Part I: Establishing the quality control program.

This is the first article in a four-part series on scintillation camera quality control. This series of articles will include both theory and practical knowledge on setting up a quality control program, acceptance testing and quality control for planar, SPECT and special imaging procedures. On completion of this article the reader should be able to: (a) discuss the purpose of a quality control program; (b) know how to establish the performance criteria for a scintillation camera; (c) know how to design a quality control program; (d) be able to set up the schedule for the quality control program; (e) understand the economics of quality control; and (f) justify the expenditure of the institution's resources on quality control.